Brassiere



Dec- 2- M. WITKOWER ,30

BRASSIERE Filed Nov. 1, 1940 MAX WiT/(OWE/Q,

Patented Dec. 15, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

2,305,051 mssmlm Max Witkower, Santa Monica, Calif. Application." November 1, 1940, Serial No. 363,829

This invention relates generally to women's wearing apparel and particularly to brassieres.

Ordinarily brassieres are so made that it is necessary to unfasten the brassiere proper to expose one or both of the breasts for nursing purposes. In view of this it is one of the principal objects of my invention to provide a brassiere of simple form and construction in which the brassiere proper remains in position on the wearer and is provided with breast pockets or supports which may be readily opened so that thebreasts may be exposed in their natural position without the necessity of unfastening the shoulder straps or body straps of the garment.

It is also an object to provide a so'-called nursing brassire which will give adequate and proper support to the breasts without binding or placing undue or unequal pressure upon any portions thereof.

It is a further object to provide. a brassiere having adjustable means whereby the breasts may be supported in various degrees of uplift.

Other objects and advantages will appear more fully hereinafter from the following description and drawing. Referring to the drawing, which is for illustrative purposes only- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the brassiere embodying a form of my invention showing the same as it appears on the wearer;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the brassiere shown in Fig. I laid out flat with the breast pockets unfastened as the brassiere would appear when opened for nursing purposes;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional plan view on line 3-: of Fi 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

More particularly describing the garment shown in the drawing, l designates a front panel of the brassiere provided with two breast openings indicated at H, one on each side of the front medial line of the brassiere. The sides of the panel it are secured by suitable stitching to side bands I 2, such side bands terminating in fastening straps II which fasten the brassiere at the back of the wearer. One of these straps I3, is provided with hooks indicated in broken lines at H, whereas, the other strap I3 is provided with eyelets ii to receive the hooks it, there being a series of such eyelets l5 so that the brassiere may be adjusted to fit the body. The portion of the brassiere which consists of the panel bands and shoulder straps, I have termed herein the foundation.

The foundation is provided with shoulder straps indicated at I'I, one end of each strap being secured to the respective bands l2 as indi-.

' ports consists of a panel of fabric secured at its side edge by means of stitching to the front edge of the respective bands I2. This is best illustrated in Fig. 3, which shows the manner of securing the panel l0 and the breast pocket 24 to the band l2 where 25 indicates stitching which extends through a tape 26 on the inside of the garment and through the overlapping edges of the panel l0, pocket 24 and band i2. Each breast pocket is provided with a reinforcement strip 28, one of such reinforcement strips being provided with a series of hooks 29 and the other with a series of eyes 30 so that the breast pockets may be fastened together along the medial front line of the foundation as shown in Fig. 1. The front of each breast pocket is provided with tucking 3i so as to conform to the shape of the breast of a wearer. Each breast pocket at its central portion is provided with a band or tape 32 to reinforce the same and to provide for a firm attachment of a. loop indicated at 33 having thereon a hook 34. These hooks 34 are hooked into one of the eyelets 22 on the short straps 2| forming a part of the shoulder straps. By reason of having a plurality of eyelets in the straps 2| the hooks 34 may be adjusted so that the breast pockets are raised or lowered at will to better fit the breasts and at the same time lift the breasts to diiferent positionsas may be desired for the comfort of the wearer.

As heretofore indicated this brassiere is particularly designed for nursing purposes and when it is desired to open the brassiere for this purpose the hooks 28 are released from the eyelets 30 and the breast pockets allowed to fall downwardly and sidewise thereby fully exposing the breasts.

It is particularly to be noted that while the breasts may be fully exposed by dropping the breast pockets the foundation portion of the Earment remains in position on the wearer as the shoulder straps and body encircling bands remain in place thereby holding the panel It in its normal position on the wearer.

It is further to be noted that the lower ends of the tapes 32 are stitched directly to the lower edge of the panel In and that the breast pockets are secured along their lower edges from such point to the line of stitching by which the breast pockets are secured to the band I! so that when the breast pockets are fully opened they assume the position shown by the left breast pocket in Fig. 2. The securing of the lower portion of the breast pockets to the front panel of the brassiere is illustrated in Fig. 4 where 35 illustrates stitches which extend through a tape 38 on the inside of the garment and through the lower edges of the panel Ill and pocket 24.

A brassiere constructed as above described provides a nursing brassiere of simple modish design wherein the breast pockets after being opened in the front may by means of a single detachable connection to the shoulder straps be dropped to fully expose the breasts. The single connection between the shoulder straps and the upper portion of the breast pockets permits ready adjustment whereby the breasts may be supported in a position suitable to the individual wearer. Further the brassiere, when the breast pockets are closed and supported as above described, has the appearance of the ordinary brassiere and embodies all the comfort of the ordinary brassiere with the added desirable feature of adjustment of position of the breast pockets without adjustment of the foundation or brassire proper.

While I have shown and described my invention in the form of what is commonly known as a brassiere it is to be understood that it may be embodied in other forms of wearing apparel such as slips, corsets or undergarments and that I do not intend to limit my invention to the form shown but intend to include such other forms as may properly come within the scope of the claims herein.

I claim as my invention:

1. A brassiere comprising: a panel having openings therein to receive the breasts of. a wearer; side bands connected to the panel; means for detachably connecting the free ends of the bands together behind the wearer; shoulder straps connected at one end to the panel and at the other end to said bands, breast pockets secured along one edge to the brassiere; and means for detachably securing said breast pockets together along the front medial portion of the brassiere to position said pockets in overlying relation to said panel and the breasts of the wearer extending therethrough.

2. A brassiere comprising: a continuous front panel having openings therein to receive the breasts of a wearer; side bands connected to said panel; means for seeming the free ends of said bands together behind a wearer; shoulder straps connected to said panel and said bands; breast pockets secured along their side edges to the panel and side bands in overlying relation to said panel; means for detachably securing the breast pockets together at their adjacent inner edges intermediate the breasts of a wearer, said pockets when secured together receiving and supporting the breasts of the wearer extending through the openings insaid panel; and means for adjustably connecting the upper portions of the breast pockets to said shoulder straps.

3. A brassiere comprising: a foundation having breast openings therein; means for detachably securing the foundation around the body; shoulder straps for said foundation; a pair of. breast pockets secured along their side edges to the foundation; means for detachably securing the inner edges of said breast pockets together; and means for adjustably detachably securing the upper part of the breast pockets to said shoulder straps.

4. A brassiere comprising: a foundation having breast openings therein; means for detachably securing the ends of said foundation behind the body of a wearer; shoulder straps for said foundation; a pair of breast pockets secured along their outer side edges to the foundation; means for detachably securing the inner edges of said breast pockets together in position to overlie the front of said foundation and to receive the breasts extending through the breast openings of the foundation; and means for adjustably detachably securing the upper part of each breast pocket to the respective shoulder straps.

5. A brassiere comprising: a continuous panel having openings therein to receive the breasts of a wearer; side bands connected to the ends of the panel; means for detachably connecting the free ends of the bands together behind a wearer;

. a pair of shoulder straps, each strap being connected at one end to the panel and at the other end to one of the bands; breast pockets respectively secured to the brassire in the' region of the junctures of the side bands with the panel; means for detachably securing said breast pockets together along the front medial portion of the brassiere intermediate the breasts of a wearer to overlie said panel and receive the breasts of the wearer extending through the panel; and means for detachably securing the upper portion of each breast pocket to its associated shoulder strap.

MAX WITKOWER. 

